Kendrapara (Orissa): Despite the perceived terror threat from the seas, the strategic twin marine police station project, as part of coastal security plan along the Jamboo-Paradip coastal stretch in Orissa, has hardly moved an inch.

Red tape seemed to have delayed the process for establishment of the all-important marine police stations in Jamboo and Paradip in Kendrapara and neighbouring Jagatsinghpur districts respectively, sources said.

At present, Paradip serves as the headquarters of the Coast Guard and is the sole custodian of this strategic coastline, which is often exposed to infiltration and sea route smuggling.

Marine policing would have come in handy in invigorating the coastal security. But the policing project has failed to take off despite the fact that Centre had accorded clearance for it in 2006 as a part of country's coastal security plan.

The union ministry for home affairs has sanctioned Rs 66 lakh monetary grants since 2007 for the projects, official sources said.

However, the administration is yet to allot one-acre patch of required land to the state home department for the project to get kickstart.

Trouble cropped up when the site selected in Jamboo for the project was found falling under reserve forest land.

Similarly, the Coast Guard raised objection on the site selected at Paradip and claimed that the land belonged to it.

The union ministry for forest and environment was empowered to alienate the land. But modalities for land transfer in Kendrapara's Jamboo were not complete, they said.
Source : PTI